The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative voiced support for the current CAFTA-DR rules of origin as the best way to support the textile industry in the Northern Triangle countries, following an Oct. 29 meeting with a domestic industry textiles group. Imports from Central American countries covered by the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement have been flat since the agreement came into effect 15 years ago and some have talked about loosening restrictive textile rules of origin to boost production there.

The social spending and climate response bill known as Build Back Better has been scaled back to satisfy concerns of two Senate moderate Democrats, and as a result, many of the original pay-fors are gone, including a limitation on tobacco drawback and a plan to tax the nicotine in vaping cartridges.

Shippers were caught off guard by a new surcharge announced this week by the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports that could exacerbate unfair detention and demurrage fees, members of the Federal Maritime Commission’s Shipper Advisory Committee said. The ports announced a surcharge to ocean carriers for containers that dwell at terminals, a fee that will likely be passed on to shippers, members said during the committee’s inaugural meeting Oct. 27 (see 2109100008 and ​​2110140001).

With too many small packages to inspect, and Instagram and other social media influencers promoting knockoffs, fashion brands are dealing with a challenging environment. But panelists on a Crowell & Moring webinar Oct. 26 called "The Year of the Knockoff" found some reason for hope.

International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from Oct. 18-22 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.

Nominees for the envoy to the World Trade Organization whose rank is at a deputy level in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, and the first-ever deputy USTR for Innovation and Intellectual Property, avoided specifics when questioned by Senate Finance Committee members on WTO negotiations. But Maria Pagán and Chris Wilson assured the senators that they understand what their views are and that their issues are also priorities for the administration.

Haptic motors intended to be mounted to a vehicle seat for sending vibrating warning signals to the driver during certain safety conditions are classifiable as electric motors, rather than as signaling equipment for motor vehicles, CBP said in a ruling dated Oct. 18.

Corruption, poor logistics and overly strict rules of origin are all barriers to Mexico benefiting from companies' decisions to diversify out of China, a panel of experts from Mexico and the U.S. said. Luis de la Calle, a former Mexican trade official who worked on implementing NAFTA and who represented Mexico at the World Trade Organization, said Mexican leaders have a lack of vision to take advantage of this moment, and he said they are also hobbled by what he called "ideological incompetence."

A product line of drug tests falls outside the meaning of “drug paraphernalia” and can be imported into the U.S., CBP said in an Oct. 18 ruling. Kappa City Biotech, a French company that makes the tests, asked CBP to rule on whether its urine, saliva and “forensic” tests are prohibited from import as drug paraphernalia.

Eleven of the 49 Democratic senators have told U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai that the inputs for manufacturing protective gowns and masks and finished masks and surgical gowns should not continue to receive exclusions to Section 301 duties. The previous administration decided that goods needed to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic should not face higher tariffs, but these senators, led by Ohio's Sen. Sherrod Brown and Wisconsin's Tammy Baldwin, argue that domestic manufacturers need the tariff barrier to be competitive.